A Little Pizzazz
by Alexis.Danaan
Summary: Bella meets Edward. Edward is trying to be sneaky. Bella calls him the unabomber. Wuv, twoo wuv. Not a crackfic. Drabbles, AH, AU. One a day. Written for Chip, my home girl.
1. Favour

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: This is a series of drabbles. Some are longer than others. They were written for Chip. Just cause.**

**Favour:**

"Okay, okay, okay, Rosalie!" Bella Swan snapped into her mobile as she wove her way through the downtown crowd. "_Okay!_ I will do the stupid shoot for you but you owe me _big time_."

"I know I do, Bella, I wouldn't ask this of you otherwise!" Rosalie sighed into the phone, making Bella feel just a twinge of guilt.

"You're so full of shit, your eyes should be brown," Bella muttered, causing a passerby to look up at her, startled.

"If we're going by that theory, then you're full to the brim of it, aren't you?" Rosalie sassed right back.

Bella chuckled. "You know I am. I did my undergrad in English Lit, remember?"

Rosalie snorted in an unladylike manner on the other end. "Yes, yes I do. Okay, so tomorrow morning bright and early?"

"You say that as if it's a good thing," Bella sighed. She hated mornings but she hated early morning photo shoots even more. She should have chosen a different career.

"I love you!" Rosalie said in a sing song voice that didn't suit her at all.

"Whatever, I love you too." She hung up the phone and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans.


	2. Mornings

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Mornings:**

If there was one thing that Bella hated more than mornings it was people who ambled along as if the downtown core of Seattle was a park with a view. She grumbled under her breathe as she hefted her gear higher onto her shoulder and saw the beacon of hope, of all things good and hot and foamy and delicious—just up ahead. She was about to sigh in relief and stop glaring at everything that lived and breathed around her when someone bumped into her shoulder and stepped on her foot at the same time.

"What the—?"

"Oh! I so sorry!"

Bella arched her eyebrow at the short man in front of her and spied the camera hanging around his neck. It was bouncing off his portly stomach which was barely encased in a shirt that read "I Heart NYC". She glowered at him in silence until he grew nervous, stammered another apology in his broken English and shuffled off with a woman who looked remarkably like him.

Scratch that. The one thing that Bella hated more than mornings and slow people on sidewalks were fucking tourists before she'd had her damn coffee.

"New York," she grumbled, carrying on towards salvation. "Honestly."


	3. Salvation

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Salvation:**

She looked up at the sea nymph, or mermaid, whatever the fuck it was with something akin to worship. Call her a consumer whore, Bella didn't care, she needed her fix of joe in the morning and no one did it quite the way Connor did. Stepping inside she inhaled the familiar scent of coffee and pastries. She joined the relatively short queue and pulled out her phone. This was when she checked her email before getting to the studio. Flipping through them and deleting the junk she determined that she had a relatively easy week ahead of her. It was a nice change.

When she had started out, three years earlier, it was hard to get any jobs at all. Despite the fact that she worked for a well established agency she was not a well known name—okay, she wasn't a known name _at all_—and in this industry, it's all about name. She had started out in university dreaming about surrounding herself with books and teaching the classics to packed lecture rooms full of bright and eager faces, hence the English Literature major. She soon figured out that, while she loved practically anything put down in the written word, she didn't like the idea of teaching it. University slowly started to kill her love of reading because she was forced to read page after page of shit just because her professor thought it was brilliant. She didn't even count the bullshit they called Cultural Studies into that destruction of literature. Huzzah for those who actually liked it but she had no interest in the study of human culture. Being forced to take classes in it was like slowly plucking out her eyelashes. She ended up dropping out and bumming around until her mother convinced her to move to Canada with her and Phil for a while. It had turned out to be a brilliant idea.

Within a year she had entered OCAD and was finally doing something that she could see herself working at for the rest of her life. After graduation she moved back to Washington to be closer to Charlie and managed to swing a job at a top notch agency that specialized in cinematography and movie media. It wasn't her dream job, but it was close enough for the time being. Unfortunately, it had been hard to convince some of the snobbier actors to even consider working with her until she had gotten a few breaks and made a name for herself. She honestly owed her career to a select few in the business and if anyone even _looked_ at Johnny Depp cross eyed she'd be the first to smack them. He had been the first big name actor who hadn't given a rat's ass about the fact that she had no following.

Now, a short three years later, she was usually booked up solid. She had built a name for being steady and reliable in an industry full of flighty characters. She was good at what she did and it showed in the job offers that she received from around the country. She had consistently declined those offers, though. Charlie was not as healthy as he had once been and she had friends in Seattle, ones that she couldn't imagine giving up. Besides, the rainy climate of Washington had finally grown on her.

"Bella!"

She looked up and smiled at the sight of the young blonde haired, blue eyed man in front of her. Her favourite barista, Connor, was a heart breaker. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't get some girl's phone number. She was just about to open her mouth and ask him how his morning was going so far when he spoke the words of doom.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but we just ran out of Pike Place. I know that's your regular bu..." he trailed off as he took in the look on her face.

She frowned at him, her forehead scrunched up and her bottom lip sticking out slightly. It didn't make for a pretty picture, but she didn't care.

"Don't glower at me, Bella, I didn't do it on purpose," he glared right back at her.

Bella scrunched up her face and continued to glare at him.

"That is a highly unattractive look for you, you know."

She stuck her tongue out at him.


	4. Stranger

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Stranger:**

"Connor it better not—" She felt someone knock into her, _again_.

"What the heck is with people today?" she spun around and glared at the man behind her.

"I'm sorry, my foot got caught on the rug," he said to her. His voice had a curious lilt to it that she couldn't quite place.

Bella looked up at him, he was a good foot and a half taller than her and she was average height for a woman her age. His head was covered in a black beanie which was then covered with a grey hood from the sweater that he wore under a beat up leather jacket. Large black sunglasses graced his face and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. The shirt under his sweater was rumpled and she could see that he had missed a button when doing it up. Her eyes wandered down to the pair of black, snug fitting jeans and old trainers that graced his lower half. Despite the decidedly rumpled look of him, he was pretty handsome. She looked back up at his face to see him smirking at her.

"It's not polite to stare," he said, humour in his voice.

"You do realize that you look like the hobo version of the unabomber, right?"

"Excuse me?"

_Note to self: Brain to mouth filter needs work_, Bella thought to herself.

She quickly turned away from the man behind her, hoping against hope that he would simply disappear.

Or she would.


	5. New

**A Little Pizzazz**

**New:**

"What is it?" she asked warily, eyeing the drink that Connor had put down in front of her. All she could see was foam and the corner of a teabag.

"It's a Chai latte," he told her, smiling.

"Ugh. Tea? Tea Connor?" she groaned at him and his grin widened. "You suck."

"You need to broaden your horizons. Trust me on this, you'll like it."

"Whatever," she grumbled, handing over the ten.

"Are you always this rude to people?" a voice said from beside her.

She turned to see that it was the hobo bomber man whom she had accidentally insulted. Apparently he wasn't going to simply disappear. She supposed that she deserved his assessment of her, considering what she had said to him, but it still rankled. She glared at him.

"I am. Do you have a problem with it?"

"Well, your friend here has done you a favour, you shouldn't be so mean to him," he nodded at Connor who was holding her change in his hand.

"My friend is just that, _my_ friend," she turned to face the man, her arms crossed over her chest. "He understands when I'm teasing him and if you don't, that's your own bloody problem."

"So you always accuse strangers of being bombers then? Is that your idea of polite conversation? Or is that this mythical teasing you speak of?" he demanded, his voice slightly raised and that strange hint of an accent more pronounced.


	6. Awkward

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Awkward:**

"Oh. My. GOD!" a girl screeched.

Bella stuck her head around hobo bomber man to spy a young girl, probably in her early teens, staring right back at her and looking as if Christmas had just come early.

"What the fu—?"

The girl ran over just as hobo man muttered "shit" under his breath. Bella realized that she was not, in fact, the object of this girl's excitement when the girl practically stood on Bella's feet in order to get between her and said hobo man.

"It's you!" she screeched, "Oh my god, can I have your autograph?"

"I...uh...I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, stepping back.

Quick as lightening, the girl reached out and grabbed his forearm. Bella cocked her head in confusion. _What the fuck is going on here?_, she wondered to herself.

"You're _Edward_," the girl whispered his name with such reverence that Bella felt her eyes go wide. She had no idea who "Edward" was supposed to be apparently he was the king shit in this girl's world.

"I...okay, what do you want me to sign?" he said, the words rushing out as if he was eager to get it over and done with.

The girl squealed again and instantly produced a black Sharpie, as if she had been hoping for this moment. As Bella watched the hobo man sign the girl's forearm in black Sharpie she wondered if this teenager had indeed been hoping to meet him. Bella's eyes darted back up to his hooded and shaded face, trying to figure out just _who_ he was. He seemed familiar but she just couldn't put her finger on...

"I'm going to get this tattooed onto my skin," the girl said with that same reverence that she had uttered his name with. Bella's eyebrows shot up as she watched the man straighten up and rather hastily return the Sharpie.

_Sweet Jesus,_ she thought.


	7. Greeting

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Greeting:**

"Who the heck _are_ you?" she asked.

He smirked, "You really _are_ rude to strangers, aren't you?"

"I haven't been caffeinated yet, I'm rude to everyone."

"Even to the Pope?" he asked, still smirking.

She grinned, ruefully, as she picked up her tea and stepped out of the way for him to pay. "Even to the Pope," she confirmed.

He handed over a ten for his own drink and turned away without accepting the change. She nodded at Connor as he gave her half a wave before turning to another customer, all of which had stopped to watch the display between this man and the young girl.

"What about Mother Theresa?" he asked.

Bella frowned as she stepped over to the table that held lids, stir sticks and various kinds of milk. "Hmm...probably not her. I mean, ignoring the fact that she's dead now, I'd feel pretty guilty being about rude to her."

"Ah," he said, placing a lid on his drink. He had exceptionally long fingers. "So she does have a conscience."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she said, holding up a hand to him. "I wouldn't go that far."

He grinned, showing her perfect teeth and chuckled. It was a soft, deep sound and Bella found herself leaning forward instinctively. She stared up at his face, still covered with the sunglasses, and tried to make out the hint of his eyes behind them. She was having trouble ignoring the devilishly handsome aspect to his little show.

Realizing that she was staring at him, she blushed and took a step back, hefting her camera equipment again. It was getting heavy on her shoulder. "My name is Bella," she stuck a hand out to him.

His smile widened and he switched the hand that was holding his coffee before reaching out to shake hers. "I'd say it is a pleasure to meet you Bella but I'm not quite sure."

She grinned as he clasped her hand tightly, "Good. Keeps you on your toes."


	8. Silence

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Silence:**

"You're not from here, are you?"

He opened his mouth to reply when another, eerily familiar shriek rent the air. They both turned to look at the door where a good thirty or forty young girls were trying to push their way into the store.

"Holy shit," Bella whispered, staring at them.

One girl, the closest to them, pointed at him dramatically and let out an ear bleeding screech of unintelligible syllables and something that sounded like "Edward".

"I need to get the hell out of here," he said, his voice raised over the din of girls yelling at each other, disgruntled customers and one brave barista who had waded into the fray demanding silence from everyone.

"Uh huh," she agreed completely with him. "C'mon," she grabbed his hand, abandoning her eight fucking dollar tea and turned back towards the registers.

"Connor!" Bella called to him as she flipped back the wooden counter top that separated the customers from the baristas. He peeled his eyes from the madness at the front door; it was only somewhat contained because of the Starbucks customers who refused to budge for anything short of a police officer pointing a gun at them. There was something to be said for addicts, they came in handy at times.

"You're—" she cut him off as he stared up at hobo man Edward.

"No time! Back door?"

He nodded and darted into the back, leading them through the storage area of the store. They passed by boxes of teas and coffee beans, assorted pieces of equipment and a walk in fridge before reaching the back door.

"Thanks Connor!" Bella said to him as she dragged her companion along behind her.

"Now, we run."


	9. Smart

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Smart:**

"Who the _hell_ are you that you have rabid teenage girls chasing you down?" she demanded again. She was bent over at the waist, her hand on her side as her chest heaved.

"My name is Edward," he told her, his breath also coming in huffs.

"Don't get smart with me," she replied between breaths, "or I'll leave you here to find your own way back."

"How do you know that I don't know where I'm going?"

"Because you're a foreigner and foreigners rarely know where they're going."

"How do you—"

"Your American accent needs work," she grinned at the look on his face. "You're clearly English."

"Well, damn," he muttered.

They began walking, taking their time now that they made good on their getaway. The only sound to be heard was their slowly calming breathing and the crunch of their feet as they reached the end of the alley way and Bella led them down Seneca St. They passed another Starbucks, but this one was, thankfully, not full of screaming girls.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he said quietly.

Bella stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Edward _Cullen_?" she repeated dumbly.

Looking quickly around to make sure that no one was watching, he pulled off the shades that had covered half of his face before. In the same movement he dislodged the hood and the beanie on his head by running his hands through his hair. His green eyes blazed in the morning sunlight as she took in his familiar features. His sharp jaw line, high brows, green eyes and wild hair were practically a registered trademark. She had thought that he looked slightly familiar but with the shades and the beanie covering his uniquely bronze hair she hadn't made the connections. She grinned and shook her head at him before she started walking again. He seemed grateful when she started moving and slipped the shades back on his face.

"Now everything makes sense," she looked over and grinned at him. His brow furrowed.

"I thought I could go for a fucking coffee," he muttered, seemingly to himself, "but apparently not."

"Hey," she nudged him with her elbow, "don't feel so bad. It could always be worse, right?"

"Really?" he drawled, making no attempt to hide his accent now. She shivered slightly at the sound.

"Yep," she said, popping the P. "You could have been cornered by those twelve year olds and molested in public. I imagine the National Enquirer would have had a field day with that one."


	10. Apology

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Apology:**

"Err...I'm sorry about calling you the unabomber earlier," Bella said, awkwardly. "It just sort of slipped out."

"Are you always that loose about the jaw this early in the morning?" he inquired, his tone polite.

Bella stared at him. "_What_?"

He looked at her, startled by the vehemence in her voice. "What?"

"Are you suggesting I give _blowjobs_ first thing in the morning?" she asked, incredulously.

"_What!"_ he exclaimed. "No! What the hell—I...—where the hell did you get _that_ assumption from?"

"Loose about the jaw?" she echoed his earlier words.

"Oh bloody—no!" He threw his hands up and laughed. "It's an expression about someone who talks a lot. You know, motor mouth, or gum flapping."

Bella eyed him, not quite sure if he was telling the truth.

He chuckled. "I swear, I don't ask women if they give blow jobs in the morning," he paused, seeming to think deeply. "Though, that would cure your talking problem, wouldn't it?"

Bella burst into laughter.


	11. Question

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Question:**

"So you're a photographer?" he asked, nodding towards her camera equipment.

"Something like that," she said, sighing and shifting the weight of her bags.

"Would you like me to hold some of that?" he asked, his hand out.

"Nah," she smiled, "thanks though. We're almost back to your hotel, anyway."

He looked up and around him before he grinned sheepishly at her. "You're right, I have no idea where I'm going. I didn't even know we were close to it."

"Use your nose." He cocked an eyebrow at her like she was nuts. "No really," she insisted. "You can smell the water the closer you get."

He inhaled deeply, tilting his face back towards the sky. The sun made his skin glow, the stubble on his cheeks hinted at the same unique bronze that his hair sported. A small smile graced his features and Bella found herself smiling back, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"I do smell it," he said, looking back at her. "But I also smell garbage."

She laughed as his nose wrinkled. "Yes well, hazards of living in a city."

"Have you lived here long?" he inquired, his tone polite.

"About three years, yourself?"

"Off and on, depends on what I'm working on."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow at him as they walked down the street. "Anything that you can share?"

He smiled and shrugged. "Nothing exciting, really. I have a meeting with my new agent tomorrow, which is why I'm here."

"Ah," Bella said, sensing that there were things unsaid there.


	12. Friends

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Friends:**

"My friend is an agent, she's pretty new to it but so far she seems to like it. I have no idea about what she actually _does_ but she's constantly running around and attending functions."

"Your friend is an agent and yet you don't know much about them?"

"Like I said, she's new to it," Bella said, eyeing the building that they were approaching. She almost wished that his hotel had been a little farther. "And I tend to block her out when she gets to ranting."

He chuckled as they reached the front of the building. There was a man in a crisp uniform standing next to the green carpet that led to the doors who eyed them curiously.

"Well, Bella, I can now honestly say that it was a pleasure to meet you," he said, sticking his hand out. She grasped his once more, smiling.

"I'm glad that you've decided I'm worth knowing," she teased.

"It's because you're being civil now," he returned, "and you haven't even had any of that caffeine!"

"The things I do for complete strangers," she laughed. "I gave up my fix for you _and_ I'm going to be late for work. You should be honoured."

"I am, actually," he chuckled. "Let me make it up to you. Would you like to grab a drink some time?"


	13. Agree

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Agree:**

"Uh...yeah...sure!" Bella winced, at the sound of her voice.

"Do you have a piece of paper?" he asked, fishing a pen out of his pocket.

"I..um..." she began patting down her pockets, looking for _anything._

_Would it be too much if I asked him to write his number on my forearm? Perhaps if I promised to _not_ get it tattooed there later?_

"Aha!" she said, pulling her crumpled receipt from Starbucks out of her pocket where she had hastily shoved it, along with the change.

He grinned and took the paper from her, using his knee to write his name and number on it. He handed it back to her.

"I finish up with my agent tomorrow around 2pm, give me a call after then?" he asked, sounding hesitant.

"Sounds like a plan, Stan," Bella grinned, despite the nonsense coming out of her mouth.


	14. Apologise

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Apologise**:

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Bella rushed through the glass doors that read "Studio 7" in frosted font, ignoring the beginning of a rant from the secretary. She wasn't _horribly_ late by normal standards, just a few minutes, but her shoot started at 9am. It was now ten after and she still had to set up, which usually took a good twenty minutes. She rushed into the studio where a beautiful woman was sitting on the white floor of the cove, waiting for her with a glower fixed upon her face.

"I'm sorry Alice, I—"

She waved Bella's excuses away, a frown on her face. "Bella, this is unacceptable. My time is precious, do you understand that? _Precious_! I have other appointments after this, you know! The world doesn't revolve around...you..." Alice trailed off as her façade cracked and she began snickering.

Bella sighed, all the tension leaving her body as she put her equipment down.

"You utter shit," she muttered at the woman who was now openly giggling on the floor.

"Now, Bella, is that any way to speak to your clients?" Alice mock chided, grinning evilly.

"I hate you."

"Impossible!"

"And your hair looks like shit, who let you out of the house like that?" Bella grinned to herself as she began plugging lights in and manoeuvring them so that they would light up the cove the way she wanted them to.

Alice gasped and, quicker than one would think was possible, she had pulled a ballerina flat off of her foot and chucked it at Bella's head.

"Hey!" Bella ducked, laughing. "You break it, you buy it, pixie!"


	15. Caught

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Caught:**

"So what's with the new hair?"

Bella looked up from her position on the floor in front of Alice and adjusted the scarf that was looped loosely around her neck. Where Alice usually sported a short, spiky, dark brown do there was now long, luscious locks of hair that curled slightly. "Not that I don't love it, it definitely suits you, but I thought that short styles were 'all the rage' right now?" she grinned as Alice rolled her eyes at the mockery.

"I'm auditioning for a specific role, I need to fit what they want and it's easier for them to see me in the role if I fit the character from the moment I walk in," she said, tilting her head up as Bella nudged her under the chin. "Besides, I like changing it up, keeping it fresh."

Bella snorted and snapped several shots with the new angle. Alice was one of the few people who had the kind of face that could handle aristocratic features. Some women ended up swamped by their features, with their eyes looking too small for their face, or their lips disappearing in high cheek bones and angular jaws. Then there were those who just ended up looking slightly inbred and horse-like despite the fact that they had all the textbook features of a beautiful model. Alice was one of the blessed. She had the classic, black and white movie star looks that could be edgy or soft depending on what the photographer needed. Bella loved shooting her not only because she was a pleasure to be around but because catching that perfect shot was a breeze with Alice. After a photo shoot with her, Bella often found herself torn on which photo should be deemed as 'the best' shot of the bunch. To top it all off, Alice was as modest and humble as they come.

"What's the role?"

"It's a story about a man from 'the wrong side of the tracks' who gets into a lot of trouble, does a lot drugs and the like. You know, classic bad boy shit," Bella arched an eyebrow. This didn't sound like Alice's usual style. "But the real kicker is that during the entire movie you're not sure if what he's experiencing is real life or a really bad trip. I would play the elusive lead female whom the guy falls for, but isn't sure if she's real or not."

"Huh," Bella said, changing her lens. "Sounds like that season finale of House."

This time Bella didn't duck in time.


	16. Bed

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Bed:**

Bella flopped, rather gracefully for her, onto her queen sized bed. It wasn't made, but then it never was, and there was a large lump of comforter under her back that was rather uncomfortable. The good thing about the whole situation was that she was lazy enough to merely tolerate the inconvenience of that lump rather that do something about it. She didn't have to wait long before the familiar patter of soft padded feet reached her ears. With a jingle from his collar, her cat Marcus jumped up onto the bed to receive his daily devotions. Such is the life of a spoiled feline.

"Hello, buddy. Were you a good boy today? Or will I find a hairball in my shoes?" she cooed to him, scratching his head. She watched as he closed his eyes in utter bliss.

"I envy you, handsome man," she told him as his purr reached her ears. "You have no idea how easy you have it."

She sighed and, shifting her hips slightly, pulled out the now completely wrinkled receipt from earlier in the day. She stared at the messy male scrawl and worry tinged in her gut.

Could she call him? _Should_ she call him? He was a movie star, after all, which meant that he probably wasn't interested in more than a one night stand and she didn't do that kind of thing.

But what kind of guy, seeking a one night stand, gives out his number? Unless it was a fake?

She decided to test out her theory. Managing a complicated manoeuvre that involved keeping the cat balanced on her stomach and pulling out her phone at the same time she let out a soft "aha!" of triumph before Marcus let out a grunt of displeasure. He glared at her from his position with a look that clearly said, "How dare you, really? Don't you know who I am?"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered at him. "Bite me."

She plugged the number on the receipt into her phone under "Edward C" and sent him a simple text message.

_**Hey, it's Bella. Just entered your number into my phone. Decided to send you a text so that you have mine as well. Have a good night!**_

Bella looked over the text before sending it. It was simple, direct, honest. She couldn't go wrong with that, could she?

She hit the send button and watched the little envelope fold in upon itself and zoom into the little globe, indicating that it had been sent. Now she just had to avoid playing the tragic waiting game, the one where she checked her phone religiously and tried to convince herself not to get upset when he didn't respond immedi—

"OW!" she jerked her hand away as Marcus fled. Sitting up, she watched his lithe form disappearing down the hall, tail in the air and ass on display.

Looking down at her hand she saw several needle fine indents from where the bastard had bitten her.

"Prick!" she yelled after him. "No more love for you!"


	17. Nerves

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Nerves:**

"I hate you Rosalie, I truly, truly do," Bella muttered to herself as she shouldered through the familiar glass doors of Studio 7 at the god awful hour of 7:45am.

Balancing a tray with two coffees and a couple muffins, she rode the lift up to the fourth floor where the studio and her equipment was waiting for her.

Despite the early hour and the fact that she was yawning every couple of minutes, there was something peaceful about being one of five people in the building. When she reached her studio, it was darkened and silent. As she flipped on the industrial over head lights and her workspace came into view and she smiled softly. This was where she belonged.

Between mouthfuls of scalding coffee and nibbles of muffin, she began setting up her shoot. She was halfway through the preparations when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. Assuming it was Rosalie, she pulled it open and clicked on the text message. Instantly, her nerves flared to life and she felt as if something live and twisty had just taken up residence in the pit of her stomach.

**Good morning. Just got your text message, I was already asleep. Apparently I'm an old geezer at the tender age of 26. What are you up to?**

She smiled, her nerves jangling, as she replied.

_**Early morning photo shoot. My friend, the agent, called in a favour. She's going to owe me a lifetime.**_

**I pity her. I really, really do. Have you at least been fed your morning dose of caffeine?**

She grinned. _**I have, though I wouldn't be opposed to another dose straight to the veins.**_

**You really are not a morning person, are you?**

_**Not in the slightest. I view them as a personal insult.**_

**Duly noted. I have to go, meeting my new agent in about thirty seconds. Wish me luck.**

_**Good luck!**_

She slipped her phone back into her pocket, not expecting a response, and continued setting up.


	18. Meeting

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Meeting:**

"Oh god, Bella, _thank you_," Rosalie sipped her coffee which was, thanks to the thermal mug that Bella had dumped it into, still hot.

"Why do you look stressed out already? The day has barely begun," Bella asked, grabbing the thick cables that connected the lights to the flash source, a large Speedotron.

"My new client is a complete and utter _nightmare_," she leaned in to whisper to Bella. "He only signed with me because his last agent quit and no one else would take him."

"That bad, huh?" Bella murmured back, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Just remember that I love you at the end of this," Rosalie whispered.

Bella arched an eyebrow at her, "You owe me. You just remember _that_ at the end of this."

Rosalie grimaced but didn't have a chance to say anything else as two sets of footsteps reached their ears.

"This is the studio, right here, Mr. Cullen," Bella heard the voice Anita, one of the interns float through the quiet atmosphere.

_Wait, what? Cullen?_ Her stomach swooped with sudden nerves.

"Thank you," a deep voice murmured as Edward Cullen walked through the double doors and stopped dead.

"Bella?"


	19. Job

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Job:**

"You two know each other?" Rosalie asked, incredulous.

"Well, sort of," Bella said, smiling and looking at her friend. "We ran into each other yesterday at Starbucks. And by ran into each other I mean he tripped into me and I insulted him."

Bella turned to look at Edward, expecting him to say something about how rude she is to strangers but she found him staring at her with a curious mix of shock and anger. She almost took a step back from the intensity of his glare.

"You are Isabella Swan?" he demanded, his voice harsh.

"I...yes," Bella said, confused.

"Then what is _Bella_?" he spat the name out as if it tasted bad in his mouth.

Bella frowned, irritation welling up inside of her. "It's my nickname...has been since I was little. My mother's antiquated taste in names never quite suited me..." she trailed off, staring at Edward's angry face.

He glared at her for another heartbeat, closed his eyes and shook his head. There was a small smile on his face, but it had no mirth in it at all. Bella had no idea where his attitude was coming from. She was about to ask him just what the fuck was wrong when his gaze switched to Rosalie, who was looking even more confused than Bella felt.

"I won't work with her. Find another photographer."

He turned on his heel and began walking to the doors of the studio. Just before he reached them, he turned to look at Bella over his shoulder.

"Don't bother calling."


	20. Accuse

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Accuse:**

"What the _fuck_ just happened?" Rosalie turned to Bella, accusation in her eyes. "How did you run off my client before we even started?"

"Me!" Bella's arms rose in an expression of disbelief. "I have no idea! I ran into him at a Starbs and we talked and...I have no idea, Rosalie. Honestly."

Bella slumped up against the counter, confusion and defeat warring within her. "It's too early for this bullshit."

"Why did he say not to bother calling?" Rosalie asked, her voice gentler.

"We were supposed to go for drinks later," Bella muttered glumly.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh," Bella sighed. "I don't understand what I did. We were _just_ texting and everything was fine..."

Rosalie sighed and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Don't feel so bad. I know you're not the first and you'll definitely not be the last to be treated thusly by the arrogance of Edward Cullen."

"So he's really a nightmare, huh?" Bella asked, even though she had just gotten a firsthand taste. She just couldn't seem to merge the Edward Cullen she had met the other day and the one that had just stormed out of her studio.

"You have only glimpsed the tip of the ice berg," Rosalie said, nodding. "Since we no longer have a photo shoot to do and I don't have an actual meeting with him until 12, what do you say to a drink?"

"At 8am Rosalie?"

"It's 5pm _somewhere_, Bella."


	21. Dare

**Dare:**

"Jay-_sus_, Bella," Rosalie exclaimed. "I've never seen someone pound it back like you."

"I spent my teenage years surrounded by boys," she gasped as the tequila burned a path down her throat.

"And how did this result in an affinity for hard liquor instead of an unwanted pregnancy?" Rosalie asked as she sipped her martini.

Bella eyed the drink in disgust. Rosalie was a snooty drink kind of person. You know the extra dry, two blue cheese olives, shaken not stirred kind of gal. She could rack up a bill pretty damn fast.

"They looked at me as one of their own," Bella took a swig of her beer to chase away the burn. "But I did lose my virginity to one of them."

"Oh, now that's what I want to hear!"

Bella rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think. It was your typical fumble in the back of a truck, pants around your knees, painful as shit and _so_ not worth the effort by the end of it. We never did it again."

Rosalie scrunched up her nose. "Sounds...pleasant."

"About as much as your friend, Mr. Cullen," Bella snorted.

Rosalie quirked a grin. "Still angry, huh? Here I thought that tequila was a universal balm to all wounds."

"You're damn right I am! Who the hell pissed in his fucking cornflakes?" she felt a rant coming on. "If I ever see him again you can be damn sure that I will rip him a new fucking hole so that he can shove his head in it and—"

She stopped abruptly as Rosalie held up a little white plastic card in front of her face, balanced delicately between her index and middle finger. Her friend was wearing the grin that instinctively had Bella looking for signs of feathers around the other woman's lips. It was definitely a cat who ate the canary kind of look and Rosalie had perfected it sometime around twelve by Bella's best estimates.

"So go tell him."


	22. Trouble

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Trouble:**

"Is that what I think it is?" She eyed the hotel card as if it were going to jump from Rosalie's fingers and bite her.

"I know you're not even close to being drunk so don't ask stupid questions," Rosalie grinned devilishly and waved it in her face.

"I could get into _so_ much trouble." Bella was a fan of stating the obvious, especially when it came to people who apparently couldn't see it. Namely: Rosalie Hale.

"Nah," Rosalie waved a dismissive hand. "I'll come with you, I'll just stay out of sight. If he gets all up in arms I'll just play my ace to get him to calm down."

"Which is?"

"That no one else on this side of the country is willing to take him on," she grinned smugly.

Bella pursed her lips. "And if he decides to have us _both_ arrested for stalking and/or harassment? What then?"

Rosalie shrugged her dainty shoulders. "It's always better to be in jail with a friend."

Bella let her head fall onto the table between them with a heavy thump.

"And isn't your dad a police officer? He'd bail you out, wouldn't he?"

Bella let out the desperate sound of one who was well and truly fucked by peer pressure. It was like that time in high school when Jacob had convinced her that Jager Bombs were "da bomb" and by the fourth one she had stopped tasting how vile they were. It was the next morning, while she was paying homage to the porcelain gods, that she had made that desperate sound for the first time—somewhere between a groan and a whimper. It was the sound of defeat.

She made it again, just for good measure.

"Oh cheer up, it will be _fine_," Rosalie patted her head.


	23. Brass

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Brass:**

"If we get arrested," Bella whispered furiously for the tenth time, "you are bailing us the fuck out."

"What happened to your balls of brass?" Rosalie whispered back.

"I never had any fucking balls of brass, you're mistaking me for that stupid bull in New York."

Rosalie snorted. "That bull is practically a personification of your attitude."

Bella stopped in the middle of the hotel hallway to grin at her friend. "I'm pretty sure the stock brokers on Wall Street would be weeping if they could hear you comparing their precious bull to my attitude problem."

Rosalie raised one finger, "I never said it was a problem."

Rolling her eyes, Bella continued along the hallway, reading the door numbers as she went. "What do we need the card for, anyway? We got into the hotel just fine."

Her friend sighed behind her just as they found the right room. 408.

Rosalie reached past her and swiped the card through the reader, changing the light from red to green.

"For this."


	24. Inside

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Inside:**

"Oh sweet fucking baby Jesus on a bread stick," Bella muttered under her breath before she turned around. "This part is _definitely_ illegal Rosalie!" she whisper-shouted.

"Live a little," Rosalie grinned but even she had the good sense to keep her voice down as she gently pushed the door open.

"I'd like to Rose," Bella sniped quietly, "but I'd rather not do it as Bessie's bitch in some female penitentiary."

"You're over reacting. You wouldn't go to a penitentiary for breaking and entering, only if you steal something."

Bella glowered at the less than comforting words.

"I know _exactly_ what will happen to me," she bit out. "Cop father, remember? Oh god," she groaned softly. "What am I doing?"

"Living!" Rosalie whispered in her ear before raising her voice slightly to call out, "Hello?"

"_What are you doing!_" Bella hissed, turning to smack her friend as she was shoved from behind by the blonde. She found herself standing in the middle of a modest suite living room. It was far simpler than she had expected for _the_ Mr._ Cullen_.

"Hello?" a slightly accented male voice called out.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Bella turned and tried to run back out but Rosalie shoved her none too gently, whispering "Go!"

"I _hate_ you!" Bella mouthed, reaching for the door as Rose grinned and slipped out. She caught the edge of it, intending to yank it open and make a run for it, when she let go quickly and nearly yelped aloud. Rosalie had stabbed her fingers with something _pointy_.

_The bitch!_ Bella thought to herself.

"Hello?" the voice was closer.

_Oh shit._


	25. Blurt

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! Things got hectic and then I actually forgot...god, I'm a horrible author. I'm sorry!**

**Blurt:**

"I didn't ask for any room—what the bloody fuck!" Edward walked into the room, rubbing a towel over his head. He stopped dead when he caught sight of her.

"Er..." Bella tried to form words, she really did, but basic things like the language she had grown up with were failing her.

Apparently her jaw muscles were also out of commission because she couldn't seem to close her mouth.

He had clearly just been in the shower and had hastily dressed himself. His casual white button down had nothing but bare, and slightly damp, skin underneath it. She knew this because he had screwed up on the buttons and she could see gaps between them. His jeans were equally sloppy, the top button and the belt hung open, leaving a fair amount of skin at his abdomen exposed. She quickly registered that the unique copper coloured hair was not restricted to his head and face. Almost unwillingly, her eyes continued their sweep downward until they rested on his bare feet.

She swallowed hard.

It wasn't that she had a foot fetish or anything just...there was something extremely sexy about a bare footed man in jeans.

"What the fuck are you doing in my room?" he demanded.

She looked up at him. Transfixed.

And blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I could ask you the same thing!"


	26. Funny

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Funny:**

Edward made a spluttering sound of disbelief. "I—wha—you—are you _insane?_"

Bella stopped to consider it for a second. "Well, no. I mean, it might look like that but—"

She paused as Edward pulled out his cell and quickly dialled someone. "Who are you calling?"

"Yeah, it's me," Edward said, his eyes on Bella. "I've got a problem, can you come up to my room?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bella held up her hands. "There's no problem here. Listen, your stupid agent brought me here!"

"Rosalie Hale brought you here?" Edward echoed, ending the call and slipping the phone into his pocket.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because you're a fucking prick, and...well, I think she thought it would be funny."


	27. Listen

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: For Mrs. Jim :D**

**Listen:**

Edward raised two eyebrows. "It would be _funny_ to break into my hotel because I'm a prick?"

"We didn't break into anything!" Bella insisted. "We had a key, we entered legally."

"You _what_?"

"Okay, listen," Bella held up her hands peacefully. "I came here to ask one thing of you and then I'll go, you don't need to call in the police or anything."

"I hav—" Edward tried to interrupt her.

"Hey!" Bella raised her voice. "I told you, one thing to say and then I'm out. Are you going to shut up and listen?"

Edward crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at her, but remained silent.

"Okay, I realize that I have been making little sense since I walked in here—" Edward snorted, causing Bella to glare at him before continuing "—but I had to know why you walked out on us this morning for no damn reason. It was unbelievably rude and frankly, more than a little fucking mental. It's no wonder you can't keep a bloody agent if that's how you treat people! I can't even begin to fathom what your problem is because all you fucking did was ask me my name and then walk out! Does my name _offend_ you or something? What the hell is your deal?"

It was only in the silence that followed her rant that she realized not only had she been yelling by the end of it but she was also panting slightly.

"Are you quite finished?" Edward asked, his calm voice belied the anger in his eyes.

"Are you going to answer me?" she demanded.

"Oh, I'll answer you all right," he glowered at her. "I walked out because I figured you out; the little fucking game that you're playing? I don't want to have anything to do with it. I guess my agent is in on it too, shame 'cause now I'm going to have to find _another_ one."

"What are you fucking _on_?" Bella stared at him, confused. "What game? I only just met you yesterday, that's a bit soon to be plotting your demise, don't you think?"

Edward snorted. "I'm not joking around. You're clearly after a ride with a rich bloke and I won't be the one you screw out of everything!"

Bella stared at him.

"You _are_ mental, aren't you?"


	28. Exit

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Exit:**

"What's going on in here?"

Bella spun around at the sound of another voice and came face to chest with one of the most muscular men she'd ever seen in person. A small sound slipped out of her as she looked up at smiling blue eyes. He looked highly entertained for some reason.

"You called, man?" the giant spoke again.

"I—yes, give me a second, Emmett," Bella turned around again as Edward returned his attention to her. "As I said, I'm on to you and your games. I won't be part of it. _That_ is why I walked out of your studio and why I'm going to have Emmett here escort you out of the hotel. You'll go quietly with him unless you _do_ want me to involve the police."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Bella exclaimed. "You think I planned on bumping into you or something? Or that after I did I pulled some strings to get you in my studio? For what purpose? To hold you fucking captive?"

Finding her anger again she took a step forward, unaware that Emmett was shadowing her. "Are you that fucking paranoid that you think everyone is out to get you? God, now I _really_ understand why no one wants to work with you, you must be a right nightmare! I guess it's a good thing I didn't end up having to shoot you, I'd probably have pulled out my hair out by the end of it."

She spun around and bumped straight into Emmett again. "Oh for fu—_move_!"

He chuckled slightly and stepped out of her way. Bella marched straight for the door but before she reached it, another thought occurred to her and she spun back around.

"For your information _Mr. Cullen_," she sneered his name, "Rosalie called me as I was leaving my apartment the morning we met to fucking _beg me_ to do that photo shoot with you on such short notice. I hadn't even met you when you were already booked for my studio. You stupid prick."

Finally satisfied with the look of shock on his face, she yanked the door open so hard that it banged against the wall opposite. Walking out with her head high, she called behind her.

"Don't bother calling."


	29. Pity

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Pity:**

"Bella!" Rosalie seemed to appear out of nowhere and reached for her friend. "What the hell happened?"

Bella wrenched her arm out of Rosalie's hold and began storming down the hallway, her foul mood following her like a rain cloud. "Your client is a fucking paranoid asshole, that's what happened!"

"What do you mean?" Rosalie hurried after her.

Bella jabbed the elevator button with her thumb. "He thinks that I somehow cooked up a meeting with him, or maybe it was the photo shoot, so that I could...I don't know, marry him and live off his money."

"He _said_ that!"

Bella spun around and headed for the door that said 'stairs' on it, unable to stand and wait for an elevator in her current mood. "Yes, he said that. He's acting like he's Huge Hefner or something and I'm a botox rich bimbo looking for a sugar daddy!"

She growled aloud as she shoved the door open. Taking the stairs by twos, with Rosalie trying to follow in her heels, Bella continued to rant.

"I've never been so fucking insulted in my entire life. Really, who the fuck does he think he is? Okay, so he's got more money than I do, but he's not a fucking sultan or something and I get by just fine! I can't _believe_ he cooked up this elaborate scheme in his head in the few minutes that it took him to realize that I was the same girl from the coffee shop! And it would have had to be a really fucking elaborate scheme, I'd need a shit ton of help from several people to even _begin_ to pull something off like that with barely a few hours notice..."

Bella trailed off and stopped her rapid descent, looking up at Rosalie with sudden guilt. "I'm sorry Rose, but he thinks you're part of this so called scheme, too. He might be firing you soon."

She stopped, looking shocked. "Oh _does_ he now?"

Without another word Rosalie turned around and stomped her way back up the stairs to the fourth floor.

Watching her friend go Bella suddenly felt marginally sorry for Edward Cullen. Hell hath no fury like Rosalie Hale.


	30. Text

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Text:**

By noon Bella had found herself back at the studio, a camera glued to her face along with a perma-scowl.

The interns fled in terror every time she stepped into the office.

She couldn't stop thinking about Edward Cullen and what, as Jacob would have so eloquently put it, a giant ignoramus he was. She was astounded by his nerve, by his _presumption_ that the world apparently revolved around him and that just because he was rich, and famous, and extremely good looking that she would attempt some plot to have him marry her and take care of her for the rest of her life.

She'd never admit it to him, but the thought was highly appealing.

_Still_, she'd never actually _do_ something like that.

Mostly because she could probably never pull it off. Her mother always said that she had been born with a built in lie detector—her infamous blush. And...maybe because it was immoral. But really, morality was subjective, wasn't it? She snorted to herself and plugged her SD card into the reader in her laptop. This was her least favourite part of being a professional photographer—uploading the pictures to several different places was a necessary evil. If the world ever ended, there would still be a copy of Bella's photos somewhere, that's how many backups she had.

She was tapping her fingers restlessly against the table, her leg jiggling to the tune in her head, and her teeth worrying her bottom lip when her phone buzzed. She picked it up from the table where it lay next to the laptop and tapped the screen so that she could see the message that had been sent.

**Please call me**.

Underneath it read "Sender: Edward C". She scowled and tapped back a response.

_**Go to hell.**_

She continued to rap her fingers against the wood, watching the little green bar of progress as image after image was copied onto her computer.

She was pretty sure she hated Edward Cullen.


	31. Marry

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: So, I'm going to the cottage for the week, Mon-Sun and the only internet I will have is on my blackberry so I won't be able to upload any of this. I'm going to put up a couple of chapters to hold you over during the week. To all my American readers, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Have a great day! To all my Canadian readers, HAPPY BELATED CANADA DAY! To everyone else, HAPPY WHATEVER YOUR INDEPENDENCE DAY IS, WHENEVER IT IS! I think that covers everything? Okay. **

**Marry**:

"So, what did you say to him?" Bella asked, taking a sip of her latte. It was a week after the horrid photo shoot but this was the first time either of them had mentioned the hotel incident.

Rosalie grinned from across the small round table in the Starbucks near Studio 7. "Well, I told him the truth." Bella quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'And that truth is...?' so she continued. "No one else was going to take him given his attitude towards people. He began to argue me on that front, naturally, and I started listing off all of the agents that he had worked with prior to me and what they had said about him. I had made a few calls before I agreed to take him on and very few people had anything good to say about him as a client. As an actor, he's brilliant, but he's a lot of work."

"Why is that, I wonder?" Bella muttered, almost to herself.

"Well, I think that has to do with why he jumped the gun on you," Rose said thoughtfully. "From what I've heard, every single one of his female agents either constantly tried to sleep with him, claimed they were sleeping with him or made his life a living hell when he stopped sleeping with them."

"Serves him right for fucking the help," she muttered before looking up at Rosalie. "Sorry, no offence."

"None taken," she waved a hand. "It's true though, you shouldn't mix business with pleasure, it always ends up nasty."

"But what about his male agents?"

"Well, that's where it gets funny," Rosalie snorted. "Apparently, one of his agent's wives claimed that she was in love with him and that put paid to _that_ working relationship. Another one constantly hit on him and made him uncomfortable."

Bella frowned. "He's not a homophobe, is he?"

Rosalie's face scrunched up. "I don't think so but I think that this guy was very much like the female ones who were constantly badgering him. I haven't talked to him about it but he never even batted an eyelash at Davey."

Bella nodded, somewhat relieved. Davey was one of the hair stylists who often worked with Rosalie's team and would have been introduced to Edward when he signed on with Rose. Davey was as gay as a Pride Parade and he made sure that everyone knew it. Bella thought he was the cat's pyjamas and promised to marry him if he ever had the need for a perma-beard.

"I'm gonna marry that man," she said, suddenly.

"Who? Cullen?"

Bella snorted. "Not if my life depended on it. No, Davey."

"He's gay!" Rosalie laughed.

Waving a dismissive hand, Bella grinned, "Minor details."

**Also! HAPPY PRIDE TORONTO! This year's parade was the best! 1.2 million people crowded the streets of down town Toronto to dance and cheer for Pride!**


	32. Sorry

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Sorry:**

"I guess I should apologize for putting you in that position, huh?"

Rose and Bella were walking down the street towards the studio since Bella had an appointment with another one of Rosalie's clients. She was looking forward to this shoot because Alice Brandon would be there; she had apparently landed the role that she had been hoping for with their last photo shoot. Between Alice and Rosalie, the director had been convinced to bring Bella on as part of the cinematography team.

"Not really," she shrugged dismissively. "I'm a big girl and it's not like you held a gun to my head."

"That's true," Rose sighed. "It didn't turn out the way I had hoped."

"And what did you hope would happen?" she smirked.

"Well, I've never seen you get so riled up over someone before and I figured that if I threw the two of you together you would either end up fucking or screaming at him. Either way, you'd get it out of your system."

Bella laughed so hard that she began snorting. "You...you..._you_ are the insane one!"

"I am not! You should have seen yourself!"

"Well, I did scream at him...and I did get it out of my system, I suppose," Bella confessed.

"See? I did you a favour!" Rosalie looked triumphant.

Rolling her eyes, she asked, "Please don't do me any more favours, Rose."

"Sure, sure."


	33. Handsome

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Handsome:**

"Bella!" a happy voice greeted her from the moment she walked into the studio.

"Pixie!" Bella greeted her back, laughing as Alice bounced around on the balls of her feet. "Someone let you have caffeine today, didn't they?" she eyed her friend and client suspiciously.

"No!" Alice disagreed before stopping to consider. "Well, Jasper did buy me a latte this morning but that was _hours_ ago."

Bella searched the studio for the unfamiliar face of this Jasper and found him leaning against the counter, his eyes following the bouncing woman before her. He had a lazy, half grin on his face and his eyes were alight with amusement. Bella instantly liked him.

"And she hasn't stopped vibrating since, has she?" she addressed him.

His green-blue eyes shifted to hers. "No, ma'am, she hasn't."

Bella's eyebrows rose. "Ma'am? Do I look like I'm 80 to you?"

He grinned a magnificent crooked smile that made her feel a little weak in the knees. "No, but my mama raised me to respect a woman."

Bella rolled her eyes at his Southern charm. It clearly worked for him. Alice was shooting him doe eyes, Rosalie had a slight blush to her face and even Bella had to admit that she could listen to this man read the dictionary and probably have an orgasm from it.

"Well, this woman prefers to be called Bella," she stuck out her hand.

He had a warm, firm grip. "Jasper Whitlock, pleasure."

"Word of the wise, Jasper, never feed this woman anything even remotely caffeinated," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to Alice.

That lazy grin reappeared as his eyes came to rest on Alice.

"Duly noted."


	34. Glee

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: Thank you for your patience! I'm back from Wasaga Beach (I'm sure most of you have no idea where the heck that is, that's okay) and I actually acquired a tan. For me, with my pasty Irish ass, this is a momentous event indeed. I will be leaving again on the 18****th**** for China for three weeks (I know, right?) and I aim to have this story finished by then. If I don't, I give Chip permission to flog my ass. She'd like it, too, kinky wench. **

**Thanks again!**

**Glee:**

"So what do you think about him?"

Alice's voice was low and conspiratorial as she glanced across the room at Jasper. Bella followed her gaze and found the man in question being fussed over by the wardrobe assistant. He was teasing the girl, Angela, who kept blushing furiously. Bella smiled at the sound of his deep chuckle.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm," she winked at Alice.

"I know right?" the smaller woman whispered back, her eyes dancing with glee.

"Why?" Bella asked casually. "Are you sleeping with him?"

"Not yet!" her friend declared in a sing-song voice. Her blue eyes kept darting back to Mr. I'm-Handsome-And-I-Know-It. He caught her eye, sending her a knee knocking wink, to which she giggled like a teenager with her first crush. Bella wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or vomit.

"Be careful" she said, keeping her voice carefully neutral.

"Why?" Alice turned back to her, confused.

Bella sighed. "For one, he's fucking gorgeous and he knows it. Guys like that usually don't stick around, their egos won't allow for it."

Alice opened her mouth to interject but Bella held up a hand. "I'm not saying that _he_ will do that, I'm just saying that you should be careful. Keep it in the back of your mind. But more to the point, fucking your co-star Alice? That has bad news written _all_ over it."

"Bella, no," Alice said softly. "He's the sweetest man I've ever met. He's charming, he makes me laugh and we just _click_, it's like—"

Bella grimaced. Alice's description brought up very specific memories. "And then he turns into a narcissistic asshole."


	35. Picture

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Picture:**

Alice frowned. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Bella sighed. "No, not really. Just be careful, okay?" She reached out to squeeze her friend's arm in a rare display of affection. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

Alice opened her mouth, about to ask a question, but at that exact moment her name was called by the stylist. She gave Bella one more curious look before nodding and walking over to Angela without her usual bounce. Bella felt bad for taking that spring out of her friend's step but she wouldn't be able to deal with her guilt if things went pear shaped for Alice and she had never said a word.

Her eyes found Jasper who was now chatting with Davey animatedly as the shorter man adjusted his hair here and there. The pair of them were laughing about something as Jasper waved his hands around, gesticulating like a maniac. She smiled and shook her head. She didn't know him very well but she could definitely see what Alice was attracted to. It was more than just his sex appeal; he had a relaxing presence, something that she just couldn't pin down and define but it was addictive.

"Okay Colonel Kentucky, you're up!" she called to him.

He looked up at her and arched an eyebrow. "Kentucky?" he drawled. "I'm from Texas!"

"Would you prefer I called you Bush?" she quipped.

He laughed, heading over after Davey released him. "Whatever works for you darlin'," he winked. She briefly wondered if his eye ever got stuck from all that bloody winking.

"Save it for the camera," she rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile that tugged at her mouth.

"Okay, okay," he stood in the middle of her cove, facing the camera. The white background gleamed beautifully under her lights. She had made sure that a fresh coat of paint was put on it before this shoot since it had acquired a number of scuff marks and imperfections.

She watched as Jasper closed his eyes and breathed in deep through the nose. She knew what he was doing, she had seen it done time and time again but it never failed to fascinate her. This was what Bella loved about photographing actors—the moment they adapted the character's persona never failed to give her shivers, especially a dark and troubled character.

With a smile of anticipation, she lifted her camera.


	36. Again

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: So, I'm leaving for China on Monday. There are 8 more chapters to this. Clearly there are not 8 more days until I peace out of Canada so that means I'll pretty much just upload the rest of it between now and Sunday! **

**Again:**

Bella was sitting with Jasper on her left and Alice on her right, going through all of their shots together. There were several hundred of Jasper, several hundred of Alice, and even more of them together. These were test shots for the potential use of the promotional purposes. The production company's design team could be putting together the posters and possibly the movie cover with these. In her head, Bella could already see a the grimy shot of Jasper, his head down and his fists clenched so tight that the tendons on his arms stood out, as the center piece of the cover. A nice profile shot of Alice looking lost and forlorn could be edited into the background amidst a city rough landscape and perhaps a supporting character or two.

Rosalie was behind Alice, constantly yammering on her phone to first one production manager, then another. Bella tuned her out as Jasper and Alice joked with or complimented one another over the photos. She found herself doing the absent minded 'stare off into space and nod occasionally' gimmick that she did every time her mother started rambling about her latest pet project. She couldn't focus on what was being discussed around her, she was too concerned with the things _not_ being said.

In fact, she almost felt like an intruder by sitting between the two apparently soon-to-be love birds and for some reason it irritated her. She briefly contemplated pulling an Alan Rickman and knocking their heads together, just out of spite. She shifted guiltily and tried to push away the Bad Bella thoughts but they continued to poke at her with their pointy fingers and she steadily got more irritated. Finally, she got up with a harrumph and headed over to pour herself another coffee—because caffeine would make the voices shut up, apparently.

She was just adding sugar and cream to the tar in her mug when Rosalie came over to her looking apologetic. Bella took one look at her and grimaced.

"What is it?" she glowered.

"I...well...I need another favour," she said tentatively.

Bella sighed. "Does this one involve a jackass?"

Rosalie bit her lip. "I really hope not..." she looked rather uncertain and Bella's guilt flared. Rosalie was not one of those women who wore uncertainty like another skin. She ate interns for breakfast and washed them down with men who thought she couldn't do her job simply because her rack was fabulous. If she was uncertain, Bella must have been in full out bitch mode without realizing it.

"What do I have to do?" she took a sip of her coffee and mentally shrugged. It passed. Sort of.

"Another early morning photo shoot?" Rose looked hopeful.

Bella contemplated kicking a child.

"You owe me," Bella said, grouching her way back to the computer. "You owe me so fucking hard that you may as well sign over your house to me right now. And that shit better be paid off."


	37. Pathetic

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Pathetic:**

Bella grumbled and slipped her appointment book back into her purse. It wasn't _really_ a purse, it was more of a messenger bag with a tote bag complex. Rose was constantly telling her that she needed to get a new one, Alice was constantly harping on about getting a _real_ purse and even her mother had occasionally commented on it as looking distinctly "bag lady-ish" but Bella didn't give a rat's vagina. It held her shit, which she had a lot of, and that was all she needed.

Rosalie had won, again, it seemed. She had just finished penciling the irritating woman in at eight fucking thirty in the morning for the next day and sat down on her couch with a sigh. She twisted around until she was lying across all the cushions and turned the television on with the assistance of the remote. Within seconds there was the familiar pitter-patter of cat feet and suddenly Marcus was on her stomach doing that kneading thing that he always did at the worst moments.

Honestly, the animal seemed to have a sixth sense for how to poke her in the wrong place. He always went for her fat and on most days it was her breasts. That shit just fucking hurt even if he was only 7lbs, thank you very much. On the days that he chose her abdomen as his pin cushion it was usually a cramping day and she had to remind herself not to sell him to the sketchy Polish diner down the street as "mystery meat" to put in the perogi. The only time the little fucker got it right was when he climbed atop her back but apparently she didn't have enough back fat to keep his tiny mind interested for very long and so her cat massage never lasted long.

"What do you want?" she grumped at him.

He meowed in response.

"Yeah well, too bad."

He butted his head against her ribs.

"No. I hate you tonight."

He stepped up his game, head butting the side of her breast.

"Are you trying to get fresh with me, mister? 'Cause I'll tell you right now, you are _not_ my type."

He 'merowed' at her, his green eyes staring pleadingly as he sat on the cushion next to her. She knew exactly what he wanted and sighed.

"You are beyond spoiled," she muttered, shifting onto her side carefully so that she didn't dislodge him from his perch on the edge of the couch. Pulling her knees up slightly, she created a comfy alcove for him to snuggle up in.

Instantly, Marcus began to purr as he turned round and round. After _at least_ ten turns—she never understood what took him so fucking long—he settled into his donut impersonation shape in the curve of her body. Her hand sought him out, stroking the soft fur of his slight body, and he made a soft sound of approval.

"Yeah, I love you too."

She sighed again. Her life was officially pathetic.


	38. Smile

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Smile:**

Experiencing a daunting sense of déjà vu, Bella left her apartment at the ungodly hour of 7:30am.

No, scratch that. The ungodly hour was when her alarm went off at 6am. _That_ was just fucking blasphemy.

Grumbling, she retraced her steps to the Starbucks, sidestepping early morning sleepwalkers. As she slipped into the coffee shop her eyes automatically scanned the area before she mentally smacked herself. It had been this way every time she walked into this stupid place—if it weren't for Connor, she'd have found a new source for her addiction. Speaking of Connor, he gave her an extra bright smile when he spotted her in the line and she waved back. He seemed to have developed the knack for reading minds because ever since the incident with He-Whose-Ego-Defies-Logic Connor had been suspiciously nice to her, even going so far as to give her extra treats when she did nothing to deserve it. It wasn't like she was a particularly nice customer first thing in the morning, she didn't even smile at him until she came in for another fix in the afternoon. Still, he'd conspicuously slide her a scone with her tea, or one of those chocolate dipped pretzels of glory, almost as if he knew she was contemplating getting her dose somewhere else. She was pretty touched and had started to make an effort at smiling at him in the morning until he had asked her if she was in pain the first time she tried it.

"Hey Bella," Connor threw her a smile over the milk steamer as he prepared her tea.

She grunted. "You are far too perky in the mornings."

"It comes with the job description. I get a contact high from all the caffeine," he laughed.

"Ugh. Laughter."

"Oh, cheer up! It's a beautiful day," he gently chided her.

She arched an eyebrow at him while still managing to glower. It was a talent she had perfected during the early years of her adolescence. "You're not one of those 'I love the world' people, are you? Because I don't think we can be friends if you are."

He just chuckled and shook his head as he headed to the register with her tea and she doggedly followed the scent of her salvation. She handed over a crisp ten and didn't even bother to wait for it to cool slightly before taking a large sip. It scalded her tongue but she was too tired to care. She'd worry about it later when it prevented her from eating anything without pain.

Rolling his eyes, Connor handed her change and said, "Have a good day, Bella."

"It's doubtful but you're sweet to try," she said, trying that whole smile thing once more.

The look on his face told her that she had failed. Again.


	39. Mortified

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Mortified:**

Bella walked into her studio and flicked on the lights, yawning. She dropped her bag beside the light table and dumped her tea into a travel mug to keep it warm during her morning ritual. She began setting up her lights but didn't turn any of them on since she wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to be shooting. Rosalie had given her no direction at all, just that she needed this favour 'so badly and I will owe you for the rest of my natural life'.

It was the last part that had cinched it for her. She liked people being in her debt for the rest of their lives, especially when they were young and healthy. She had visions of half clothed, oiled up young men feeding her grapes and fine wine at the expense of one Rosalie Hale. It danced through her head much like the way she had always pictured the sugar plums part of the classic Night Before Christmas story when she was a kid. She had to admit, she much preferred oily men dancing through her head than sugar plums. She didn't even know what the fuck a sugar plum _was_ but as a kid it didn't matter because everything in the story prior to Santa sliding his fat ass down the chimney was filler.

She finished up pretty quickly and sat down next to the light table. Propping her head against the edge of it, she reduced her movement to the occasional turn of the head so that she could take a sip of her tea. She ignored the tingling on her tongue that told her she had lost the use of some taste buds—yet again.

Her eyes were growing heavy and she was beginning to drift off when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the hall. They were not accompanied by Rosalie's quick, sharp clacking heels so she dismissed it. It was probably another photographer in for an early morning shoot as well, or their client. She wasn't worried about it and closed her eyes again, beginning to drift off. Half way between consciousness and a fatigue inspired stupor, Bella was in the middle of a giant yawn when she heard the door open and automatically turned her head—without covering her mouth.

Edward Cullen walked in and immediately his eyes were drawn to her wide, gaping trap.


	40. Tricked

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Tricked:**

Bella's mouth snapped shut with an audible click as blood rushed to her face and her eyes widened.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question!" he shot back.

For a second, Bella almost grinned. Edward seemed to realize what he had said at the same moment she did and his face became a strange combination of begrudging amusement and indignation.

"I _work_ here, remember?" she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest simply because she didn't like him being any taller than he had to be. If it wouldn't have made her look like a complete moron, she would have clambered onto her chair just so she could one up him.

"I was specifically told that you would _not_ be here!" he said it as if it were her fault that she was there. Upon second thought, she supposed that he figured that she _had_ arranged this. She knew different, of course. She also knew that one Rosalie Hale better have commissioned her tomb stone already.

"What, and you think that I arranged to have you here in my studio all by your lonesome so that I could kidnap you?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

His eyes widened slightly and he drew himself up taller. "I'd like to see you try," he scoffed.

She laughed. "Is that a trace of fear, Mr. Cullen? You afraid of lil' ol me?" she taunted him.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't be ridiculous."

"That's rich coming from you," she grinned wolfishly. "Tell me, do you write crazy conspiracy theories and post them on those internet blogs?"

"I am not a conspiracy theorist, _or_ paranoid for that matter," he sighed and rolled his eyes at her.

"Really? Could have fooled me."


	41. Child

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Child:**

"Well if you had answered any of my text messages I would have been able to explain myself to you," he told her, clearly irritated. "But instead you decided to act like a petulant child and ignore me!"

"Excuse me?" She marched forward and jabbed a finger in his chest. She couldn't help but notice how good the dark coloured button down looked against his skin, particularly the bit of skin that was showing thanks to the open top buttons. "Because I decided that I didn't want to have to deal with your melodrama I'm a petulant child?"

"I am not melodramatic—"

"Of course you are," she sneered. "You're a B-list actor, it comes with the territory."

She knew she had struck a nerve when his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared slightly. She almost did a victory dance.

"And is name calling not considered to be childish in this country?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm.

"It takes one to know one," she sassed.

He arched an eyebrow at her, the corner of his mouth twitching as if he were holding in a smile. She frowned at him. There was no reason for him to be smiling at her, she was doing her best to piss him off.

"I can't believe we're doing this," he muttered, reaching up to rub a hand over his face.

She took the opportunity to steal a good oogle without him noticing.

Nope, he hadn't lost any appeal since she last saw him.

Actually, scratch that. He had more clothes on right now, that was definitely a turn off.

He cleared his throat and her eyes shot to his. She blushed as she registered the all too knowing look in his eye.

She had been caught practically drooling over the little bit of exposed collar bone.

Fuck.


	42. Kiss

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Kiss:**

"It's not polite to stare," he said, his voice soft. Warning bells started going off in her head, reminding her that the last time he had said that to her, she had ended up insulting him.

Then again, she had already done plenty of that. A little more couldn't hurt his pride _that_ much.

"I'm not—"

Her words were swallowed by his mouth. He leaned in and captured her lips so quickly that she barely registered what was about to happen seconds before it was occurring. She froze, unable to compute what was going on.

He noticed her lack of movement and pulled back rather quickly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

She stared at him, dumbly. Her mouth was probably hanging open but she couldn't be sure, she seemed to have lost all brain function.

"Bella?" he asked, looking slightly worried. Whether he was concerned for her welfare or wondering if she was about to go psycho on him, she would never know.

"What the hell was that?" she asked him, her voice quiet.

He looked nervous. "Uh...well, it was a kiss."

Someone hit the big power button in her brain, the lights turned on upstairs and she quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"Thank you Captain Obvious, what on earth would I ever do without you to tell me what a kiss is?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking as if he were praying for patience. She was familiar with this look. "Well at least I know there was no permanent damage if your sarcasm is back."


	43. Logic

**A Little Pizzazz**

**Logic:**

Bella finally grinned. "I should rephrase that. Why did you just kiss me?"

"Because I thought it might be the only way to shut you up?" he offered, looking uncertain.

She chuckled. "That logic is flawed."

"I know, but we're going to ignore that for the time being," he said, that small smile making its way onto his face.

"We are?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"I don't fucking think so—"

"Why didn't you respond to any of my text messages?" he asked, cutting off her train of thought. She thought back to the three texts he had sent, after the first one she had just deleted them outright.

"Because I didn't want to hear your stupid excuses," she told him with a shrug. "You only changed your tune when you realized that I was actually telling the truth. I'm assuming that you confirmed the time of your booking with the receptionist or something which would have proved that I wasn't stalking you. I'm not interested in being friends, especially not something romantic, with someone who can't trust on such a basic level."

He sighed, looking equal parts frustrated and disappointed. "It may be a basic level to you, but it's not to me."

She opened her mouth to respond but he held up a hand and she fell silent.

"I'm sorry that I freaked out on you, I really shouldn't have, but while I may not have a good excuse I do have a reason. You wouldn't be the first woman I've run into who seemed to not know who I was, struck up a conversation with me and then conveniently ended up in my life later," he ran a hand through his hair in obvious frustration. "You saw how it was in the coffee shop, that's how it is all the time. I'm so tired of having to either hide in my hotel or second guess every person I meet. I guess I just jumped to conclusions with you and for that I'm sorry."

Bella stared at him. She had no idea what to say to that.


	44. Condition

**A Little Pizzazz**

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did because I already have a sequel idea in my head!**

**Oh, and Chip? Happy really, really, REALLY belated birthday. Love you hard, woman.**

**Thanks to all who read, reviewed and sent me words of encouragement! You guys are the best!**

**Condition:**

"Do you accept my apology?" he asked, stepping closer to her.

She put her hands up, flat against his chest. She wasn't sure if she wanted to push him away or pull him closer. Perhaps she just wanted to touch. The momentary surge in brain function seemed to have stuttered to a halt again.

"Or do I have to grovel?" his whisper brushed her face and she shivered.

"I'm not opposed to grovelling," she admitted quietly.

He chuckled. "How about I take you out to make it up to you? I can grovel over dinner."

"Are you asking me out again?"

"Maybe. Are you saying yes, yet?"

"Yet?" she curled her fingers into his shirt. "Someone is awfully cocky."

"I prefer the term 'confident', personally."

She laughed softly. "I'll agree on one condition."

"It doesn't involve goat sacrifice, does it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Really?"

"Well, I only ask because I'm fresh out of goats," he grinned that pretty little crooked smile and she found herself thinking that Jasper Whitlock didn't have shit on Edward Cullen's panty droppin' grin.

"Are you done yet?" she tugged on his shirt a little.

"Yes, what's your condition Majesty?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I think you should refer to me as Her Majesty all the time," she grinned. "But I was thinking that perhaps another kiss would convince me to say yes."

He didn't respond and he didn't wait. He leaned forward and kissed her fiercely. She kissed him back this time, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth and teasing it with her teeth. He tasted like mint and coffee which only served to solidified her theory that, minus the paranoia part, he was pretty damn perfect. She wasn't worried though, they could work on that whole jumping the gun thing.

He pulled back, grinning. "So will you go out with me tonight, Bella?"

She sighed and made a big show of thinking about it. "Oh, I guess so. My date with Marcus can wait I suppose."

"Marcus?" both eyebrows shot up.

"You better be nice to Marcus," she shook a finger at him. "He's only about seven pounds soaking wet and he's rather particular about how you scratch him."

He laughed. "You have a pet, I take it."

"No, the cat has a human," she grinned.

"I think I can manage to share you with a cat, but he's a fool if he thinks he's getting you tonight," Edward leaned in and stole another quick kiss.

Bella _just_ stopped herself from sighing in a pathetically feminine display of swoonage when they heard a deep sigh.

"Oh thank _god_!" They both turned to see a very relieved Rosalie. "Does this mean I'm off the hook?"

Bella looked at Edward and caught the conspiratorial look in his eye.

"Fuck no. Your ass is mine for the rest of your natural born life, remember?"

Edward laughed and pulled her closer. His scent enveloped her and brain function flickered momentarily.

Perhaps she would only torment Rosalie over this set up for a week or so. _Maybe_.


End file.
